Animal Abuse, Neglect On The Rise In King County

KING COUNTY, WA — Animal cruelty and abuse cases in 2020 now equal the previous two years combined in King County, mirroring similar trends in other violent crimes this year, including domestic assaults and shootings.

The King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, Seattle Attorney's Office and the Seattle Animal Shelter hosted a joint news briefing Thursday morning to give the public a look behind the numbers and underline the importance of reporting concerns to the proper authorities.

While there is not a direct correlation between the pandemic and rising abuse, experts said the unique conditions can lend to more opportunities for violence.

Animal cruelty in King County:

2018: 10 felony cases filed
2019: Nine felony cases filed
2020: 19 cases felony filed (YTD)

"Animal cruelty, like domestic violence, it's a crime that thrives in isolation," said Victoria VanNocken, an assistant attorney with the Seattle City Attorney's office. "When you have the perfect storm that the pandemic has created, people being at home a lot than they would and frustrations with financial concerns and job concerns and a lot of things going on in the world, who do you lash out at? You lash out at the significant others in your household, and you lash out at the animals in your household. There definitely is a link, and the statistics that we have just in our cases in Seattle definitely bear that out. "

Increases in other violent crimes:

• Between January and October 2020, King County prosecutors filed more than 1,100 felony domestic violence cases, up from 983 during the same period in 2019.
• Reported shootings were 39 percent above average between January and September, with a 58 percent jump in deadly shootings.

According to King County prosecutors, at least 19 felony animal cruelty cases were filed since the beginning of the year, including seven in the last two months. That number does not include misdemeanors referred to the Seattle City Attorney's Office.

Some of the higher-profile cases include 220 animals that were rescued from a West Seattle home in October after a concerned neighbor contacted local authorities.

Here are the suspects arrested in connection with the most recent cases, per King County prosecutors:

• Matthew Hazelbrook: The West Seattle man was charged with 17 counts of animal cruelty. The investigation by police is ongoing. This is the case announced in October by the Seattle Animal Shelter and Seattle police. Charged by the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office on Nov. 17 after receiving additional investigation details by police.
• Sergey Timofeyeu: Charged by the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office with first-degree animal cruelty, a felony. This stems from an Oct. 30 incident in Seattle’s Crown Hill neighborhood where the defendant is accused of abusing a cat and dragging it from a bike. Charges were filed Nov. 4.
• Jonathan A. Henderson: Charged by the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office with first-degree animal cruelty, a felony. This stems from a Sept. 28 incident where a dog named Prince had his head covered in duct tape at a West Seattle apartment. A Seattle Animal Shelter investigator described it as extreme cruelty and Seattle police had to intervene. Charges were filed Oct. 22.
• Felix H. Liu: This is a Bellevue Police investigation charged by the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office with first-degree animal cruelty, a felony. The defendant is accused of drowning his cat after drinking. The cat suffered a broken neck. The defendant admitted to police that he had handguns in a condo nearby. Charges were filed Oct. 20.
• Jesse Ray Mead: Charged by the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office with first-degree animal cruelty, a felony. This charge stems from a June police investigation in Federal Way where investigators said Mead was recorded punching and strangling a dog until it died. Charges were filed June 17.
• Christian Vazquez-Lopez: Investigated by the Regional Animal Shelter of King County. They responded to two separate complaints – one in March and another in April – to complaints about roosters on the defendant’s property. A May 6 search found 91 roosters with 48 being altered and 13 being partially altered. The defendant also had medications, supplements, training equipment and posters associated with and used for cockfighting, according to investigators. Charges were filed Oct. 15 after receiving details from investigators.

Anyone who sees an animal in immediate danger is encouraged to call 911. In Seattle, less urgent calls can be directed to the Seattle Animal Shelter at 206-386-PETS. Residents living elsewhere in King County should contact King County Regional Animal Shelter at 206-296-PETS.

"Animal cruelty is not an animal problem, it's a people problem," said Ann Graves, executive director of the Seattle Animal Shelter. "It is something that happens behind closed doors, in a backyard. It happens in spaces and places where our 14 officers in the city of Seattle aren't going to be there to see. So, we absolutely rely on people who are seeing something, hearing something that they come forward and say something."